Sunday, February 26, 2006

How sad I am that it will not be until 2010 that I get to sit on the couch and watch the exciting game of Curling.

That game is amazing. It really gets my adrenaline up to watch a sport that the commentators described as a cross between a game of chess and shuffle board...All while wearing attractive bowling shoes which slide easily on ice.

Friday, February 24, 2006

Well, the first step is to admit you have a problem...So let me explain...

Two weeks ago today my friend came to see me and she came bearing gifts. She came with cute little toys for the kids and she brought me something that I wanted to ask her for before she came but knew that there was never any need to ask...She would bring them: Flour tortillas from Central Market/HEB.

There is actually a funny story about how she got to the store at closing and had to beg a clerk to smuggle her some (any!) tortillas for her poor friend on the east coast who was going through CM Tortilla withdrawal. If you live in her town and see her ask her about the "Tortilla Caper" ...Its actually quite funny and proves that I have great enablers in my life!

Anyway, she came over with 6 dozen tortillas (wrapped individually by the dozen) and her famous homemade "Salsa Caliente". As a side note I think she named it this just for me because she knows about my salsa pet peeve... (there is a BIG difference between salsa and hot sauce- and it irritates me when I make salsa and people say "nice hot sauce...", but I digress)....back to my sweet friend...for a self proclaimed white girl from Indiana, she makes some mean "salsa caliente".

So we get home from the airport and I opened one of the tortilla bags and start handing them out to my kids for snacks. I put the other 5 packages in the freezer. I had half-jokingly said that I was going to ration them and make them last until I could get back to Texas myself....

What a lie that was.

And here is my trouble...

There are only 6 tortillas left in the package that is currently open and only 1 dozen left in the freezer... I could have a panic attack over this situation...but luckily there's medication for that.

OK...That might be an exaggeration, BUT everyday this week I have had a bean burrito for lunch except yesterday when I ran out of beans and rolled up a cheese stick and nuked it instead. This afternoon I suddenly had a cheese aversion... So I scrambled an egg (with some of Bec's Salsa Caliente--which has done wonders for the residual congestion left over by the flu!).

My kids have resorted to eating tortillas for breakfast and I have let them eat them...Because after all we have DOZENS in the freezer!!!! What was I thinking?

When it comes to tortillas I am a failure at rationing.

So it's likely I won't need a Tortilla Intervention...Because from the looks of the tortilla hungry people in this house I will be going cold turkey in about 48 hours.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

It's been a bit of a long month. It started out with major anxiety issues. Then I got the flu. And this last week my heart is heavy over the sudden loss of the dynamic youth pastor at our church in Texas. Although I didn't know him well my heart aches over the loss that my church family is experiencing. However in the middle of a more difficult month I am reminded of the amazing gift we have been given: Laughter.

I read an article about the importance of laughter this week and how critical it is within the context of family. It talked of how laughter brings people together and allows people a respite from a life that is sometimes more hectic than funny.

Laughter is particularily important to children who need it to feel a sense of belonging and well being. It reminded me of the times when my family in Arizona gets together and laugh over those family "legends" that seem to get more and more ludicrous with the passing of time. And now that we have kids the stories are even better.

My kids love to laugh. For instance, a couple of weeks ago we were all sitting at the dinner table and The Girls's lips were red and swollen because they were chapped. I had just bought her and The Boy new chapsticks and had told them not to loose them. The Girl was complaining that her lips hurt and I asked where her chapstick was.....To which she responded without words but with a look that said "I lost it within the first hour you bought it."

The Boy then pipes up and starts in on how she should be responsible for her stuff and that "Mom had said to keep track of the Chaptick".

To which I replied, "Oh yeah?, Where is your new chapstick?"

"Um, I lost it?"

This is when The Girl, who had just taken a sip of water, burst out laughing and showered her brother with the contents of her mouth. That's when we all started laughing...And cleaning up.

Every night since then The Girl has retold the story laughing (with The Boy) like it is the funniest thing that has ever happened.

Yesterday The Boy came home from school and asked if we could get online and find a website that has to do with a gorilla named KoKo. He wanted us to send money to her foundation because "gorillas may become extinct". I told him that we could look at the site but that we probably wouldn't be sending money. Of course he asked Why? I told him that his Dad and I like to give our money to charities that help people. With tears in his eyes he reached over so I could hug him. The Girl, my 6 year old animal rights activist, who was sitting on the counter licking peanut butter off a spoon, starts indignantly asking me questions: Don't you care that the gorillas are going to be extinct? Do you know that means that there won't be any more gorillas? If we don't send money to help save the gorillas who will?

This was all in a build up to the final blow (or so she thought). With a slight smile on her face she says:

"What if Kona (our dog) was a gorilla? Would you send money in then?"

I burst out laughing...And fortunately so did The Girl. I think he new he should probably laugh at this moment, in the event that my answer wasn't favorable.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

I have spent many years avoiding the flu shot because after all I "never" get the flu.

Well next year I will be the first in line along with all the old people waiting for the flu shot because I now understand what the "flu" really is.

Today is the first day that I have been out of bed since Sunday...When they say that the flu knocks you down from out of no where...They aren't joking. I was fine on Saturday and on Sunday I was sick, sick, sick.

Unfortunately, it couldn't have come at a worse time. My sweet friend flew all the way in from the Lone Star State and we spent most of her vacation parked on my couch; with her bringing me glasses of water with lemon and coaxing me to eat toast. She got to listen to me hack and sniffle and sneeze all while trying not to breathe the same air.

The weekend wasn't a total loss.

We did get to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner (which was yummy) and there was a lot of girlie bonding that proves when two good friends come together over chocolate it doesn't matter where you are, or how sick you are, or how long it has been since you have last seen each other--friendship takes the crumbs in life and makes a cheesecake.

Friday, February 03, 2006

There was an ad in a parenting magazine that I found when I was pregnant with The Boy. It was a black and white picture of a beautiful baby with big eyes. The words on the side of the picture read like this:

31,536,000 seconds.

525,600 minutes.

8,760 hours

365 days.

1 birthday candle.

Don't blink.

I cut that ad out and placed it on the fridge before I even gave birth to The Boy and whenever I would open the fridge on a sleepless night, or during the day when realities set in on how parenting is (mostly) hard work, I would see that ad and it would remind me that life is precious and it will certainly go quickly so enjoy it. I eventually pulled it off the fridge and put it in his baby book, but it made such an impact on my mind that I think of that ad often...especially in times when I start to believe that things will never change...that we will always be struggling with a certain issue (i.e. - sleepless nights, diapers, learning to read...it goes on and on!)

Today we celebrated The Girl's 6th birthday and it seems hard to believe that 6 years ago today I accidentally pushed snooze on a 5:30am alarm and the hubby and I were almost late for the scheduled birth of our second child! Of course nothing could've happened till I got to the hospital...But we felt a little guilty. That would NEVER have happened with the first baby!

3,153,600 minutes later and here we are.

This weekend will be filled with Princess parties and cake and ice cream and the prayers of a Mom and Dad that time would slow down...Just a bit...But just in case...

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

It is amazing how this world revolves so much on the "Who you know" principle. Such is the case in my life.

This time last week I was doing pretty much the same thing. The Wednesday schedule includes my laundry, cleaning the bathrooms and sweeping and mopping (although I usually push this last chore off until I can no longer take the look (or feel) of my kitchen floor.

Today I am sitting at home in blessed silence after spending three hours teaching music to 4 year olds. And if you think pre-school isn't a high risk job, then you have never spent thirty minutes with 10 pre-schoolers with wooden rhythm sticks in their hands.

How did I get this job? Well it all started out with the kindergarten class Christmas party...Although we have to call it a "Winter Party"...I volunteered to play my guitar and sing some Christmas songs. Little did I know that another parent in the class would remember that I played guitar when the music teacher at her school quit last week...And she would call me. I would tell her that I have never taught music before and although I can play the guitar I usually don't choose to play in public. This is when she told me that 3, 4, and 5 year olds are not really public.

So last week I interviewed (for the first time in almost a decade) and this week I can suddenly add "Pre-School Music Teacher" to my resume. Of course this is right on course with some of the other crazy (but very true) things I could put on my resume. For instance: ICEE drink promotional bear, or tap dancing Foley's bag (for a grand opening), and my all time favorite-- Nanny to Vegas on a highjacked plane. Sounds like a country-western song.

I think this little job will be fun, relatively easy, and put a little pocket change in my cute little handbag that matches my shoes.

If my blogs are a little more infrequent it's cause I am getting used to the schedule...Or I have been rendered unconscious after a serious exercise with Rhythm sticks...But hang in there I will return! I am sure that hanging around with Toddlers 9 hours a week will bring lots of blogging material.